Thoughts on Life, Love, Politics, Hypocrisy and Coming Out in Mid-Life

Thursday, September 03, 2015

The GOP'sReal Problem - Its Voters

At the risk of sounding once again like a broken record, the current state of the Republican Party is the result of the short term cynicism of the so-called GOP establishment that invited crazies into the party base with an eye to short term election successes with no thought as to the long term effects on the GOP. As the crazies - especially the Christofascists - flooded into the party, sane people fled in horror (I did and so did members of my extended family) leaving the inmates in charge of the asylum. With the rise of Donald Trump, we are seeming the fulfillment of such short term thinking. The Frankenstein monster has matured and will be difficult, if not impossible to kill. A piece in Mother Jones looks at the sickness of the GOP base. Here are excerpts:

Only a few weeks ago, pundits and political observers roundly proclaimed
that Donald Trump, the reality-show tycoon who's mounted a takeover of
the GOP, would flame out, fade, implode, or whatever. Jeb Bush's
campaign aides were telling journalists that they had no concerns about
Trump threatening a third Bush regime. "Trump is, frankly, other
people's problem," said Michael
Murphy, the chief strategist for Bush's super-PAC.

It's becoming
clearer, though, that Trump, still dominating the polls and the
headlines as the Republican front-runner, could well pose an existential
threat to the Grand Old Party (or at least, its establishment,
including the Bush campaign). But the fundamental problem for the Rs is
not Trump; it's Republican voters.

Trump is a brash and arrogant celebrity who is well skilled in pushing
buttons, belittling foes, uttering outrageous remarks, causing a ruckus,
and drawing attention to one thing: himself. . . . But none of this would matter if there was no demand for his bombastic,
anger-fueled, anti-immigrant populism—that is, if Republican voters did
not crave a leader who equates undocumented immigrants with rapists and
who claims that everyone else in political life is a nincompoop selling
out the US of A to the Chinese, the Mexicans, and just about every other
government.

Trump is tapping into a current that runs throughout the various strains
of the GOP. It's a current of frustration, despair, anger, and
yearning—a yearning for a time when the United States will not be
confronted by difficult economic and national security challenges, and
when you will not have to press 1 for English and 2 for Spanish.

[A]t least half of the GOP is unhinged and living in its own fact-free and
perhaps Fox-fed reality. To top it off, many Republican voters have
expected the GOPers in control of Congress to kill Obamacare, shut down
the government and slash the budget, prevent Obama from issuing
executive orders, and impeach the pretender who inhabits the White
House. The anti-immigrant, anti-Obama, anti-establishment sentiment that Trump
is tapping runs deep within the Republican electorate. Many Republicans
clearly see the president as a foreign-born secret Muslim with a
clandestine plan to weaken, if not ruin, the United States—remember the
death panels—and they have a dark, nearly apocalyptic view of Obama’s
America.

Voters this dissatisfied and this detached from reality will be looking
for someone who can vent for them. Trump does that. He also promises
quick and simple action to address their concerns: a wall (not a
fence), great trade deals at a snap of the finger, the end of ISIS, you
name it.

Republicans eagerly courted the tea partiers and other dissatisfied
voters. They rode that tiger into the congressional majority in the
low-turnout elections of 2010 and 2014. They whipped up the frenzy.

The point is, the GOP is overflowing with voters who long for a
candidate who echoes their rage and resentment. Whatever happens with
Trump in the months ahead, this bloc of voters won't go away. Neither
will their fury. This is the true dilemma for the Republican Party and
its pooh-bahs. Trump, the deal-making businessman, is merely responding
to market forces. He's just the supplier. Trump is the drug, and the
voters need to score. The demand is what counts.

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Out gay attorney in a committed relationship; formerly married and father of three wonderful children; sometime activist and political/news junkie; survived coming out in mid-life and hope to share my experiences and reflections with others.
In the career/professional realm, I am affiliated with Caplan & Associates PC where I practice in the areas of real estate, estate planning (Wills, Trusts, Advanced Medical Directives, Financial Powers of Attorney, Durable Medical Powers of Attorney); business law and commercial transactions; formation of corporations and limited liability companies and legal services to the gay, lesbian and transgender community, including birth certificate amendment.

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